Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), defended the need to create mechanisms to control disinformation on the internet and that technology companies should also be held responsible for the dissemination of content.
“There must be greater transparency in the algorithms because all the big techs refuse because, obviously, there is an economic interest. If there is economic interest, if it is a way to earn money, it is necessary to get rid of the idea that they are mere depositaries and intermediaries. It is a business and needs to be treated as such”, said Moraes during a seminar in São Paulo, this Friday (31).
The minister explained that, as there are currently no regulations, judicial decisions end up being extreme.
“There it is 8 or 80, as happened with the Telegram issue. Telegram refused to obey the Brazilian court order, as it did all over the world, saying it was immune from jurisdiction, since its headquarters were in Dubai. Excellent. What did I do? Block. Telegram is over. Everything that is broadcast in Brazil and causes damage in Brazil is the responsibility of the Brazilian courts. (…) That decision was enough for Telegram to go there and immediately comply with all the decisions and collaborate, not only in Brazil, but in the rest of the world”, recalled the minister.
To try to move forward with regulation, a working group was created with representatives of big techs to take proposals to the National Congress. “The first proposals are: what is boosted, what is monetized, what big tech gains from it, it is responsible”, he explained.
As a general rule, the minister defends that the rules on the internet must be compatible with the laws outside it.
“If you can’t, in the real world, offend, verbally attack, then you can’t in the virtual world either. If you cannot propagate Nazi ideas, if you cannot propagate ideas that attack democracy in the real world, because it is a crime, it must also be a crime in the virtual world. It’s not because you can, cowardly, hide in anonymity, creating a little robot and a fake profile, that you cannot be held responsible. There is a need for accountability”, said Moraes, who cited last year’s elections.
“There was no need for a new law. We waited to the limit for Congress to pass a new regulatory law, but it didn’t pass. So life goes on”, recalled the period ahead of the Superior Electoral Court.
On the narrative that control can lead to an attack on freedom of expression, Moraes countered.
“Freedom of expression is not freedom from aggression, offense or threats. This discourse that what you want to limit is freedom of expression is a narrative constructed by the extreme right all over the world. It’s an easy speech,” she concluded.
Source: CNN Brasil
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